The U.S. Congress could be \”the last brake\” for stopping a nuclear deal with Iran, a senior Israeli official said on Sunday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the United States for a speech this week that has strained U.S.-Israeli relations.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday he expected to know soon whether Iran is willing to agree to a nuclear deal, and he appeared to take a swipe at Israel\’s prime minister over the issue.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the likelihood that Iran and six world powers would fail to meet a deadline on Monday for a nuclear agreement.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday a nuclear deal with the West was bound to happen and he believed it could be achieved by a Nov. 24 deadline.
Iran and six world powers re-launched talks on Tuesday to try to salvage a deal on Tehran\’s nuclear activity by a July deadline, striving to prevent a long-time standoff from descending into a wider Middle East war.
At first glance, Iran appears to have exported more oil than allowed under a nuclear agreement with major powers, but rather than complaining, U.S. officials argue Tehran is skating just inside the deal\’s ambiguous limits.\n
Iran must agree to \”verifiable action\” to satisfy U.S. concerns about its nuclear program or else there will be no final deal.
A breakthrough agreement to end the standoff over Iran\’s nuclear program appeared to face its first major difficulty on Friday with Russia warning that expanding a U.S. sanctions blacklist could seriously complicate the deal\’s implementation.
When it comes to the deal between Iran and major powers, Israel and the pro-Israel community are retreating from a strategy of confrontation and working instead to influence the contours of a final agreement.
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